Page 3 - Digi Notes : English- 21.04.2016
P. 3
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READING COMPREHENSION – 1
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain
words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some questions.
Indian government is trying to do too much, economically and societally and as a result, not
achieving what might otherwise have been feasible, especially with respect to basic
objectives of governance, such as ensuring broad access to primary education and health
care. Experts have identified major contributing factor to this relative failure as
organisational weaknesses.
Some of these organisational weaknesses are familiar—there are problems in recruitment,
motivation, training and exit. Putting aside those who are blatantly dishonest or
incompetent bureaucrats can be characterised into two types: one, honest and risk-averse;
another, competent, effective and creative. Both these sets of traits are reasonable and not
necessarily negative, but those who possess both sets of qualities are very scarce.
A stark illustration of the issue of organisational structures and capabilities can be seen in
the form of dozens of government schemes and thousands of crores of expenditure
allocations ultimately get implemented or spent through the actions of people like the block
development officer and her/his subordinates. Modern organisation theory ideas of team-
building, continuous learning, empowerment and so on are light years away from the reality
in the field at the point of implementation. Aside from these problems of human and
organisational capital, another illustration of the deficiencies of government comes from the
physical work environment, everything from the proverbial stacks of files to the sorry state of
office washrooms. These deficiencies are a symptom of deeper underlying problems as well
as a cause of poor performance.
The issue of social hierarchies embodied in caste divisions and feudal relationships can be
seen naturally and repeatedly. What is interesting here is that these attitudes are more
entrenched than is sometimes acknowledged. Thus, reservations and other policy
mechanisms to level the playing field for socially disadvantaged groups have helped to
broaden entry into the elite ranks of administration, but they have not altered the steep
gradients of status that apply in Indian society, including, but not limited to, government.
These status gradients contribute similarly to steep gradients in skills and in work
environments. The quality of government office washrooms do not really apply to what is
accessible to the top ranks.
Therefore improving the quality of railway station infrastructure, using the benchmark of
airports, which only serve the relatively well-off in India will not serve the purpose. A focus
on providing decent low-cost housing for India’s masses tackles an important aspect of
inequality in the conditions of life of the majority of Indians. These are examples outside of
government itself. Is there a starting point for addressing the social structural issues that
adversely affect India’s governance quality?
Interestingly, the answer may lie in local government, turning Dr. Ambedkar’s
Independence-era concerns on their heads. Those concerns were that village governments
would perpetuate and strengthen historical inequalities. This can certainly still happen. But
modern communications and record-keeping are more likely to expose such problems than
www.mahendraguru.com
READING COMPREHENSION – 1
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain
words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some questions.
Indian government is trying to do too much, economically and societally and as a result, not
achieving what might otherwise have been feasible, especially with respect to basic
objectives of governance, such as ensuring broad access to primary education and health
care. Experts have identified major contributing factor to this relative failure as
organisational weaknesses.
Some of these organisational weaknesses are familiar—there are problems in recruitment,
motivation, training and exit. Putting aside those who are blatantly dishonest or
incompetent bureaucrats can be characterised into two types: one, honest and risk-averse;
another, competent, effective and creative. Both these sets of traits are reasonable and not
necessarily negative, but those who possess both sets of qualities are very scarce.
A stark illustration of the issue of organisational structures and capabilities can be seen in
the form of dozens of government schemes and thousands of crores of expenditure
allocations ultimately get implemented or spent through the actions of people like the block
development officer and her/his subordinates. Modern organisation theory ideas of team-
building, continuous learning, empowerment and so on are light years away from the reality
in the field at the point of implementation. Aside from these problems of human and
organisational capital, another illustration of the deficiencies of government comes from the
physical work environment, everything from the proverbial stacks of files to the sorry state of
office washrooms. These deficiencies are a symptom of deeper underlying problems as well
as a cause of poor performance.
The issue of social hierarchies embodied in caste divisions and feudal relationships can be
seen naturally and repeatedly. What is interesting here is that these attitudes are more
entrenched than is sometimes acknowledged. Thus, reservations and other policy
mechanisms to level the playing field for socially disadvantaged groups have helped to
broaden entry into the elite ranks of administration, but they have not altered the steep
gradients of status that apply in Indian society, including, but not limited to, government.
These status gradients contribute similarly to steep gradients in skills and in work
environments. The quality of government office washrooms do not really apply to what is
accessible to the top ranks.
Therefore improving the quality of railway station infrastructure, using the benchmark of
airports, which only serve the relatively well-off in India will not serve the purpose. A focus
on providing decent low-cost housing for India’s masses tackles an important aspect of
inequality in the conditions of life of the majority of Indians. These are examples outside of
government itself. Is there a starting point for addressing the social structural issues that
adversely affect India’s governance quality?
Interestingly, the answer may lie in local government, turning Dr. Ambedkar’s
Independence-era concerns on their heads. Those concerns were that village governments
would perpetuate and strengthen historical inequalities. This can certainly still happen. But
modern communications and record-keeping are more likely to expose such problems than
www.mahendraguru.com
